By making the SAT more representative of what students learn in their schools, the College Board may democratize the exam, and make its accessibility -- and therefore college's accessibility -- open to everyone.

It is our habit and our pleasure to read books every day, but sometimes, cultural capital comes outside a binder or a box. It ripples over the bubbles on standardized tests. Tests are a given--they will always exist. But higher learning takes on myriad forms and often reveals itself in people, places and situations we least expect.

Every 10 years, the College Board makes significant changes to the test that has been around since 1926, the test that has been notorious for putting stress on students for generations. Let's cover some history of the SAT. In 1959, in walks the ACT as an upstart competitor to the SAT...

With all the evidence supporting the uselessness of the ISAT, why did some parents still insist their kids take it? Even after being presented with the facts surrounding ISATs, some still felt that opting kids out was a really bad idea. Why were so many parents adamant that their kids take the ISAT?

In a recent editorial, the Chicago Tribune asks, "Where is the harm in a child taking the ISAT?" The piece makes several interesting claims about why opting out of the test is a bad idea. I guess the Tribune thinks these parents don't have a case, but I'm not so sure that's true.

In my years as an educator, I have come to one certainty: Teenagers say some of the most profound, and most entertaining, things you could ever imagine. So, here is what my students think about standardized tests:.

"So, how's school, fifth grade this year, right?" I asked. Kim's face fell, all the bounce--and light--went out of her. "I'm not an A student," she whispered and looked down at the floor. If you knew Kim, her evident shame and embarrassment would surprise you as much as it did me.